Cohasset man pleads to August fire, attack

OROVILLE — A Cohasset man has changed his plea to charges stemming from a house fire and attack last August.

Kendall Scott Hursh, 45, pleaded no contest Wednesday in Butte County Superior Court to felony counts of arson of an inhabited structure and assault with a deadly weapon. The defendant also admitted that he personally inflicted injury.

As part of the change of plea, the prosecution sought to dismiss a second assault count.

The plea change also includes a stipulated sentence. Hursh will be sentenced in two weeks to four years in state prison — a lower-term sentence of three years for the arson and an additional year for the assault.

Outside of court, deputy district attorney Robert Thomas III noted that Hursh must serve 85 percent of his sentence before being eligible for release due to the violent and serious nature of the crimes.

Both counts also count as strikes under the state's three-strikes law, meaning Hursh could potentially be sentenced to life in prison if convicted of another serious or violent felony.

In court, Thomas told Judge James Reilley that Hursh had been having a barbecue on Aug. 25 with his housemates on the 100 block of Watson Lane in Cohasset. Hursh and another person had a disagreement, which housemate Salvador Atuñez objected to.

Hursh went into the house, spread an accelerant and set it afire.

Atuñez continued to object, leading to Hursh punching him. Atuñez rolled down a hill. Hursh followed and pummeled the apparently unresponsive man.

Thomas later said a female housemate then jumped on Hursh's back and used a paring knife to try to stop him.

The woman's effort was unsuccessful and she retreated. While she moved away, Hursh reportedly picked up river rocks and threw them at the woman.